Will Smith Exits Sci-Fi Film 'Brilliance'

With filming set to begin this summer on Julius Onah and David Koepp's adaptation of Brilliance, the Marcus Sakey novel full of super powers and government agents, everything seemed to be coming together nicely. Will Smith was eying the lead role and earlier this month Noomi Rapace was in talks to join him. But now production has been derailed as Smith has departed the film due to scheduling issues.

The start date on the film had been bumped a couple of times, and the delays were enough to cause a conflict with Focus, the con-man film Smith will star in opposite Margot Robbie. Brilliance takes place in a world where a small number of people known as "brilliants" are born with incredible powers. Smith would have played federal agent Nick Cooper, a brilliant who uses his power to hunt down terrorists and fellow brilliants.

No word if production is still targeting the August start date, but Legendary Pictures is probably scrambling to find Smith's replacement. He may not be the sure box office draw he used to be, but Smith is still one of the biggest names in Hollywood and played a big part in moving the film forward. [Deadline]